Chief Wilde's Last Day
by HPLurvkriff
Summary: Everything he loved had been taken. With nothing left, he has to decide how to end the last day of Chief Wilde.
1. Chief Wilde's Last Day

**Chief Wilde's Last Day**

Flicking on the light, Nick walked into his home office. The part of the walls not blocked by file cabinets was covered in photos and news clippings. They were meant to be mementos of a glorious career, but now, they were scars.

"Fox and Rabbit Foil Felon" headlined the paper when they captured a serial burglar.

"ZPD's Best Couple?" took the center frame just a week before they planned to make a public announcement. The yellowed paper was followed by several bright personal photos, mostly of Judy.

The halfway point of the room was marked by a full front page. The black and white photo showed smoke billowing out from a half crumbled building. Police cruisers, ambulances and the SWAT truck blocking everything else. "Dozens Dead In Savannah Shootout". Private photos of a funeral were pinned next to the page, many of the mourning were rabbits. But Nick was absent from the photos except for one. Two adult bunnies and a red and gray furred kit who was no more than four sat by a fox covered in tubes, wires, and bandages.

That day was when it all went wrong. That was the day that lead him to discover one last conspiracy.

He set the black box on his desk next to the only framed photo in the room. When it was taken, they had been detectives for two years, married for four, and parents for just over a year. They hadn't known it yet, but that was the zenith of their lives. Nick and Judy were all smiles with their daughter Lily, who was no more than a pair of red tipped ears in a blanket in the picture. Nick almost wondered what he would do differently if he knew what was coming, but hypotheticals like that never went anywhere except the bottom of a bottle of cheap liquor.

Judy was in the ground over two weeks before he woke up from his coma. And when she left, she took Slick Nick with her. No one had seen anyone on the force as fierce and determined as he was since Bogo. There were no more jokes. No more swagger. Judy wanted to make the city a better place and he was going to make damn sure that happened.

The only time he ever seemed to smile was when he was with his daughter. Biologically they couldn't have kids and opted for artificial insemination. When asked about the father, the most Nick ever said was that he was a trusted friend. But there was no doubt she was his daughter; having the same innate choice for gaudy shirts, a love of pawpsicles, and a whipcrack wit.

Nick's new vigor to his job saw him fly up the ranks. As he made his way up, he still investigated the Savannah Shootout. He didn't care how many dead ends he found, he knew no bank robbers would ever be that heavily armed.

After making Chief when Bogo retired, he got his first lead. Most of the heavy weaponry used by the "robbers" were bought from an arms dealer in the Marshes. He should have just raided the place, but it was his first big operation as Chief, so he informed the Mayor.

Pulling the chair out, Nick sat and tried to adjust the badge that was no longer on his shirt. He sighed. Today really had been Chief Wilde's last day.

Turning the box, he pulled out the card that identified its contents. In block handwriting by the ZPD file clerk, it read "Personal Effects: Wilde, J.L."

His paw shook as it reached out to the lid of the black box. Barely a hair touched the box before his hand shot back as if it were electrified.

Even since he was aware of the political scene, there wasn't a mayor who wasn't corrupt. Lionheart was a patsy, Bellwether was a power mad tyrant, and everyone after that had their own smaller scandals. An adulterer who ran on a family values campaign, embezzlement, insider trading, and so on. Swinton's corruption was deep and expansive, which is why Nick could never expose her. But she was behind it all.

Her earlier career she campaigned for her role on the city council using fear tactics. Fear of crime that had been going steadily downward. It seemed idiotic at the time. The ZPD was doing a stellar job; high percentage of closed cases, low stats for negative civilian involvement, and their public image was nothing short of impeccable.

And then there was the shootout. In the end, combining ZPD, robbers, and civilians, over thirty mammals died. Fear won out and Swinton became a big part of the city council. The money from her investors went to a middleman and repeatedly expanded hands but ultimately that money hired the goons and bought their weapons.

Every time Nick got close, he was blocked. The trailer vanished or lead to an all too obvious fall guy. Four years they battled each other behind the scenes. She was one step ahead of him at all times and always came out looking better than before.

The second year she started to turn public opinion against him. The third year she slashed the department's budget and laid the blame on him. By the fourth year, she was tired of his determined interference.

"You should stop digging around for something that doesn't exist, Nick. I'd hate for it to negatively affect your daughter."

He should have stopped then. At least he would have had something left.

It wasn't hard for Swinton to enact her revenge. Enough of the city hated him and only a few "old timers" on the force stood up for him while the rest ate up Swinton's swill. All it took was some evidence to disappear and suddenly one bad apple was put back on the streets. Some low level thug who wanted to strike back at the fox who locked him up for whatever crime he committed. He just needed three things; a picture, an address, and a weapon.

Even while mourning the loss of Lilly the public cried for Chief Wilde's head. Two other students were shot and a teacher was killed trying to protect them. All because Nick Wilde was a target of a deranged ex-con.

But he kept digging and fighting, until tonight. Swinton final won out and Nick was ousted from the position of Chief of Police by public demand.

With careful motions, Nick lifted the top off as if it were an ancient artifact ready to crumble to dust. Inside there were two smaller boxes. A plain black hard plastic case and a slim green box with and orange bow.

Moving with autonomic ease, he opened the black case and began inspecting the revolver. It was very much like Judy; small but powerful. He went through the motions of examining it, a task that was all but automatic by now. It looked almost new. He opened a drawer in his desk, grabbed a handful of bullets, and loaded the gun.

There wasn't anything left for him. He was an old, tired, failure. He failed to protect his wife. He failed to protect his daughter. He failed to protect his city.

But there was one last thing he had to do before he ended his final day.

Pulling out the colorful box he saw a tag attached to it.

"To my Dumb Fox."

His heart slammed against his chest as he slid the ribbon off with a shaking paw. Inside sat a familiar orange hunk of plastic. The carrot pen.

Tears blurred his vision as he pulled it out of its container. Drying his eyes with the back of his paw, he clicked the play button and heard the familiar sound of the unnecessary analog rewinding on the digital device. It stopped and so did his heart.

"Hi, Nick."

Her voice was small but serene.

"I don't have much time left, but you know that. I know it's going to be hard, but I believe in you, Nick. You'll do what's right for Lilly and this city."

Her little voice hitched as Nick's sobs became convulsions.

"I want to be with you, Nick. But I know in my heart you are needed here. Zootopia needs you. Even if it doesn't know it yet. Just remember that. And remember that I love you. I love you completely. Goodbye, my sly fox."

Sucking in ragged breaths, Nick set the pen down and looked back at the other item on the desk.

"I'm sorry, Judy. I'm so sorry."

* * *

The panther silently slinked into the house, followed by his partner. The house was dark but their night vision allowed them to ease their way through. They knew the layout of the house so he headed towards the office entrance from the living room while his partner passed through the kitchen and popped out the other side of the hall.

Risking a glance, he spied the fox sitting at a desk on the opposite end of the room. One hand was on a gun on the desk the other was on what looked like a carrot. A female voice kept coming out of the carrot.

-Rvvvvt-

"Hi, Nick."

-Rvvvt-

"I want to be with you, Nick."

-Rvvvt-

"-it's going to be hard, but I believe in you-"

-Rvvvt-

"Goodbye."

His partner started to pull out his gun. He shook his head. He's seen enough sad sacks off themselves and from what Swinton told him, it seemed like the fox was just moments away from biting the bullet. They were just insurance in case he was too much of a coward. But it was looking to be an easy paycheck.

The fox played a few more bits and pieces of the message again.

"I love you."

The revolver's hammer clicked back.

His partner smiled before three shots rang out and blew through the wall and the smaller panther. He moved as three more shots rang out, feeling heated impacts against his side and thigh. The shot he got off that shattered the middle rung of the empty wooden chair before the fox sprang from the side of the room and twisted the panther's paw with a crack, dropping the gun.

Holding his broken hand he stared at the barrel of his own gun being held by the fox.

"Swinton send you?" His voice was hard as steel.

"She'll bury you like the rest of your deviant family." The panther spat at the fox, noticing blood in his saliva.

Without a flinch, Nick emptied the clip into the panther.

Picking his revolver up, he began to reload it as he pulled out his phone and entered a number.

After two rings it was answered with silence.

"I'm taking every last one of them down."

"They'll be out on bail before you could blink, Chief." The voice on the phone responded.

"Didn't you hear, Jack? I'm not Chief anymore."

"Okay, Wilde, what's the plan?"

"Like the lady said; this city needs me, even if it doesn't know it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Smash to black with The Rolling Stones "Paint it Black". Credits roll.**

 **This story was inspired from Judy is Dead. Originally two ideas popped into my head. This was the first one. The second one… I might still do but probably not. It's harsh in a different way but ends up happier. If I wanted to expand upon this particular story, it would have basically been a revenge flick (John Wick, Death Wish, Leon: The Professional, etc, etc) with Nick and Jack taking down Swinton's corrupt empire. And yes, that is Jack Savage he is talking to at the end. I might pop back and do a few more later scenes of this AU. Maybe.**

 **The other major inspiration of this fic was the song "Here Comes the Arm" by The Protomen. It's basically where Judy's last message came from and why I chose not to end it with Nick biting a bullet**


	2. Chief Wilde's Last Rights

**Chief Wilde's Last Rights**

"Mayor, is there a connection between the raid SWAT conducted earlier today and Chief Wi- ex-Chief Wilde's crusade?"

Swinton leveled her gaze at the black-wooled sheep whose pen was ready for her response.

"I would hardly call his month-long spree of violence against this city a crusade. But no," she lied, "there was no connection between the raid and Nicholas Wilde's rampage."

The porcine Mayor glanced around the press room as more questions were lobbed towards her. When she first became Mayor the press room was beyond antiquated and barely fit enough mammals for Bunny Scout meeting, say nothing for a proper citywide press conference. But she changed that by the end of her first year. Not only was the room big enough to hold large audiences but it was equipped as a production studio. Three cameras with dolly tracks ran down the middle and either side of the room. The front wall was furnished with a regal blue backdrop and an enlarged emblem of Zootopia's city seal. And sitting high on the back wall, the control room loomed over the room from its tinted glass view. From there they could send the broadcast to any of the networks, for a handsome fee. With the heightened security, even the ZPD was given access to the feed. She loved this room.

A leopard stood up, a ZNN press badge hanging around her neck. "Has he actually taken down the Skunkelly crime syndicate by himself? Or do you believe the rumors that he's being helped?"

She felt her eye twitch at the mention of the Skunkellys. They helped her get where she is today, and she helped them acquire some prime territory. It was doubtful that the fox could get any hard evidence from them. It would be easy enough to deny any connections he could find from them. But they were one of her favored tools of enforcement and intimidation. Nick just wrecked her favorite leg breakers.

She took a slow blink, calming the fire of her mind, and opened to glare at the leopard.

"So far all evidence has pointed to him working alone. But if anyone helped him, or is currently helping him, they too will be brought to justice by the ZPD."

"What about the rumor that he's being helped by the vengeful spirit of the late Detective Wilde?"

"Ha!" Swinton's sudden outburst surprised even her. She adjusted her blazer and turned towards the voice in the crowd. "I apologize but it's ludicrous to think that anything supernatural is going on. Nick Wilde is nothing more than a brutish thug who has lost all control. Next question."

"Do you deny that officer Maxwell Howlitzer was given direct orders from city hall to destroy evidence against Antonio Tigre, freeing him to-"

"Lies!" She slammed her hoof on the podium. "You dare to even print such slander and you, your paper, and whatever degenerate you call a 'source will be drowned in our lawyers that-"

"The source is Maxwell Howlitzer." The caribou lifted his cellphone up, showing a live feed of Howlitzer, a dark brown wolf with a tan streak in his fur.

The crowd exploded in questions, accusations, and camera flashes. Hooves raised with questions, Swinton was about to give the crowd the verbal thrashing of their lives but was interrupted by a ferret popping up onto the podium in front of her.

"City Hall can not comment on these allegations. But I am certain that the actions of Office Howlitzer are his and his alone, and do not reflect anyone in these offices or at the ZPD. Thank you for your time."

Felicity Furo, the ferret PR representative, ushered Swinton off the stage. As they entered the hallway Swinton balled her hooves again.

The stage door closed heavily behind them.

"Goddamn Howlitzer." Swinton didn't know if she wanted him dead or just ruined.

"He'll be easy to take care of, Sus, with all the gambling debts he has."

The Mayor gave a gruff exhale through her nose that Felicity would swear to a jury of her peers wasn't a snort.

"Was Wilde involved? Did he get to Howlitzer?"

She tried to shrug but was having a hard time while keeping pace with the pissed off pig as they reached the elevator.

"I don't know. I'll have my team handle the official contacts at the ZPD and I'll take care the unofficial ones. Just go home and rest up. We might have a busy morning to deal with."

The doors opened with a light chime.

"Thank you, Felicity. And we're still on for Thursday?"

"VIP seats at Thunder Tropics. Just you, me, an open bar, and tons of male eye candy."

"Good, we'll need it after this debacle."

The door closed and brought Swinton down to the carpark. As she got into her car the idea of a good stiff drink was really appealing. Luckily she had a wide variety waiting for her at home.

* * *

Bleary eyed, Swinton stomped back into the elevator. Grumbling at the fact it was three in the goddamn morning. Whatever Felicity found better have been worth coming in the rare state of being simultaneously drunk and hungover.

All she sent was a simple text. Come to the office, and you can stop Wilde permanently. The ferret rarely exaggerated. If she had a plan or knew how to get the fox thorn out of her side, she meant it.

The door slammed open harder than she intended but the lights were off. She blinked at the darkness for a moment before reaching for the light switch. Since ferrets are naturally crepuscular, Swinton has caught Felicity working perfectly fine in dim or totally dark rooms.

"Fel, what do you got for me."

"It's less what I have for you and more what I have on you." Said a familiar voice which was definitely not Felicity's.

Swinton swung her head back towards her desk and suddenly felt sobriety clawing through her scotch based haze.

Nicholas Wilde sat behind her desk. His Police Chief dress blues were stained and soiled in blood and burns from his one mammal war against her. If it wasn't for the bright, and deadly, glint in his emerald eyes, he could have been mistaken for a freshly dug up corpse.

"You spent all that time and money on a TV studio, you forgot to update your IT department. Do you know how easy it is to crack passwords on this system? I've been doing it since Bogo was still Chief."

"Where's Felicity?"

Nick tilted his head, looking at her like she just spoke an alien language. "Why? It's not like you have a heart."

Her eyes darted around the room looking for any signs of the ferret but came up empty. No overturned chairs or freshly spilled blood. The only blood stains were on Nick's sleeves but they were dried into dark rust splotches on the once vivid blue jacket.

He held up a cheap cell phone. "I have no idea where Felicity is but I'm betting she's blissfully unaware of the text I sent you spoofing her number."

"What do you want Wilde?"

"I want this over and done with. I already crippled your best muscle. You know damn well if I can take out the Skunkellys the others won't be an issue. And frankly, I don't feel like wasting my golden years picking off your peons."

"What?" She snorted in derision. "You want me to just walk down to the ZPD and confess?"

"That would be the quickest way, yes."

Taking a step, Swinton moved closer to the desk.

"And if I don't?"

"I'll release all the files I found here," he patted the top of the computer case laying on her desk, "to every news agency from here to Koala Lampur. In fact, if you wait a few more minutes, I'll have done just that. It would have been sooner but it's a lot of data. You know; shady contacts, vilifying emails, and a browser history I'm sure you don't want the public to know about. More than enough to show the mammals of this city what a monster you really are."

"I have an alternate proposal."

She shoved her hoof into her purse and pulled out a revolver.

"How about I kill an intruder to city hall and be herald a hero for stopping your violent crime spree?"

To his credit, Nick barely registered that there was a gun leveled at him. While this was her first time pointing a gun at another living person, this was far from his first time staring down the business end of a gun barrel. His tail continued to wag absent-mindedly behind him.

"I know you call the shots and mark the targets but can you do it? Can you pull the trigger? Would you have pulled the trigger on McHorn?" A photo flung from his hand, a rhino laid out on a cold steel table ready for an autopsy.

"Delgato? Sanchez? Knight?" More photos were tossed at her as he continued to list off the names of all the fallen officers. All of them murdered in the shootout that started her career.

"What about my wife?" His voice croaked as the photo of a very gray Judy came fluttering to her feet.

"Could you pull the trigger on a child like Lily?" He tossed two photos at her. The first was a class photo of a bunny with bright blue eyes beaming with youthful enthusiasm while her wide smile joyously showed off the tooth missing on the left side of her front buck teeth. The body in the other photo could barely be recognized as a rabbit, let alone the same kit. The best evidence left was that it still had one of its long rabbity ears attached to what was left of its head. She was small but the bullets Antonio Tigre used were not.

The heavy gun wavered in her hoof as she pried her eyes off all the photos now laying on her office floor. She looked at Nick, whose stern glare didn't change as he leaned back, almost relaxing, in her chair.

"In a heartbeat." She pulled the trigger.

But so did he. His pistol went off at the same time, shattering the dome light that was illuminating the room. He and the chair tumbled backward into the darkness. Cocking back the hammer again Swinton waved her gun wildly at the dark, hearing the fox move in the pitch black of the room.

Claws raked her hand, dropping her gun before she was shoved against her desk. The fox's paw grabbed the side of her head, claws first, and slammed her into the desk three times before vanishing into the darkness again.

"You only have a few precious moments before all your dirty laundry is spread across the internet. Choose well, swine." He growled before running out the door, light from the hallway flashed across the office long enough for Swinton to see the glinting metal of her gun. Grabbing the weapon she got up and let out another shot, obliterating the metal box on her desk.

Opening the door into the harsh fluorescent light of the hallway, she saw several large dribblings of blood on the carpet. She felt her little curly tail wiggle at the knowledge she hit him.

* * *

In the dim press room, three small red dots stared unblinkingly at the empty podium. Muffled gunfire came from outside the hall. When the door slammed open the motion sensing lights flickered to life. The fox was holding his side, with each limp a gush of crimson seeped through his paw. A cough mid-stride sent him tumbling onto the podium, his empty gun clattering to the floor as he took purchase on the wooden stand.

Feeling the warm trickle of blood going down his back slightly consoled the fox. From experience, he knew it was generally better not to have a bullet stuck inside his body. Although the blood loss was worrying him. He wasn't light headed yet, but it was only a matter of time.

Pushing off the podium with a grunt he made his way to the set of doors on the opposite side of the room. He grabbed the handle and yanked. The door stood firmly shut. He pushed on the door, rattling the handle, but it still didn't budge.

"Son of a-"

There was a loud bark of gunfire and a sudden explosion of pain ripped through his thigh. Swiveling on his good leg he turned to see Swinton in the opposite doorway, the barrel of her gun still smoking. Small rivulets of blood streaked down the left side of her head, the leftover of Nick's attack.

"Dead end, Wilde."

Spying the discarded gun on the ground her mouth twisted into a grin.

"You really should have released those files when you had the chance." She stood next to the podium and kicked his empty gun into a section of chairs for the press.

"You'll never get away with it, Swinton. Someone will see the breadcrumbs I saw and take you down."

Her laughter filled the room. "The only reason you were so damned single-minded was that your poor little rabbit-wife died. If that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have needed to resort to using Mr. Tigre against your daughter, and, I assure you, you'd be following my orders just like the rest of the idiots at the ZPD. All the while, the mindless slugs that inhabit this city would still be just as clueless as they are now."

"You really played this city didn't you?"

Her smile widened. "Yeah. I guess I did. I played this city like a harp from hell."

"Except for three things." The fox said with a smirk that she did not like one bit.

"Whoopsie number one; I lied." He straightened himself up against the door, his unwounded leg aching for rest. "I released the files before I even contacted you."

The haughtiness vanished as rage quickly burned across her face. In a flash, she raised the gun and fired.

A burning force slammed him against the door. His chest felt hot and wet as the pain seared through him. Landing on both his legs, his right leg screamed and sent him falling on his tail. A streak of red smeared down the door as he slumped to the ground.

The gun cocked again as Swinton's huffing breaths came in angry snorts.

"Whoopsie number two." Nick began, his voice was ragged and each breath was a new flaming pain in his chest. "The ZPD always monitors these feeds." He pointed at the cameras.

"Especially…" his breath came in a rasp, "when they're turned on at odd hours of the night."

She turned and saw the red dots glowing on the faces of the cameras. Red for recording. All the color faded from her face as she realized what was taped. Her chin quivered as her rage bubbled back up into a scream as she took a shot at a camera and the glass window of the control room.

Nick's choked laughter brought her fiery attention back to him.

"And whoopise number threes-" Another small fit of coughing tore at his throat, sending blood splattering out of his mouth. "Threesie."

The enraged pig raised her gun and pulled the trigger. There was a hollow click from the empty chamber.

"You're out of bullets."

Her entire body shook in rage, a primal growl grew in her throat. All those feelings of hate and vile towards the fox intensified as his blood stained smile grew across his muzzle.

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart." He raised his paw, miming the shape of a gun with his thumb and pointer finger. "Boom."

His mirthful laugh was interrupted by another blood-soaked coughing fit. Before he could begin to gloat again Swinton's empty gun whirled into his collarbone, sending out a new wave of pain through his chest. All of her porcine rage poured out in a primal squeal as she rushed the wounded fox.

It had taken her years to gather the power to get where she was. She was feared by those that she needed to scare, and loved by those who she cared only about their votes. But in one night, in just a matter of minutes, this fox toppled her little kingdom. This deviant, preyophiliac bastard of a fox ruined everything for her.

Being a full head taller than the fox, she lifted him to her level by his shirt and began slamming him against the door. He brought up a paw, claws at the ready, but his pain slowed him down. Before he could swing down upon her, Swinton twisted her body and used that momentum to toss Nick into the podium. The wooden stand shattered, sending splinters and wooden shards everywhere.

Stalking over to the groaning fox, Swinton picked up one of the heftier remnants of the podium and lifted it over her head. Everything in her vision faded into the red of her rage except the blue-suited fox. She swung down hitting him with a hard crack. She swung again, bringing up some russet colored fur as she raised her weapon back up. And again. And again. His grunts and groans quieted after the first few blows. Loud cracks rang out as bones broke against the force of the swing, which became wet smacks as crimson liquid began to paint the end of the wood.

With a sickening crack, the end of her bludgeon broke off, leaving a jagged splinter of a point. As the blood drooled over the fresh, unstained wood, an old memory surfaced. Some horror films she saw between self-shielded eyes as a child. At the climax, the hero took a sharpened stake and stabbed the monster, with long fangs stained with blood too bright to be real, in the heart. This was her moment to vanquish the red demon before her. To plunge the stake deep into his chest and end his reign of terror.

She raised the stake high above her head, droplets of crimson dripped onto her face as she held it aloft. With a grunt, she heaved her weapon downward. Or at least she would have if her wrist wasn't stuck on something. The wood fragment was yanked out of her hands by a large female cape buffalo and tossed to the side. The larger mammal cocked her arm back. There was a fire in the buffalo's eyes that nearly rivaled Swinton's.

"Lieutenant Bogo! Stand down." The booming voice of the current police chief, a stern looking panther, rang over the buffalo's rage.

Two other officers filed out from behind him towards the misshapen pile of blue and red. The older wolf rapidly called for a medical team over his shoulder radio while the younger cheetah stared wide-eyed at the mammal on the floor. He did his best to keep his dinner from heaving itself out of his body.

"Susanna Swinton." The dark-furred cat pulled out a pair of steel cuffs. "You are under arrest."

Feeling the cold metal ratchet around her wrists sent an electric shock through her that fried whatever cognition left that wasn't burnt from her rage. The litany of charges the panther mentioned passed through her numbed form as they walked out. Two mammals hurried past them in the hall with a stretcher.

Flashes of red and blue lights greeted her as she was put into the back of a squad car. More police cars pulled up and a few news crews were trying to get shots of the mayor in cuffs. One of them was that caribou from the press conference.

The world around her kept moving but she was still stuck in that moment, The moment of her ruin. Mouth agape, staring at the three red eyes which looked silently back at her.

The vehicle roared to life and took off down the streets as she stared blankly at the city passing by her window.

She was finally shaken out of her stupor when the car jerked to a halt and was vaguely aware that the driver and passenger had been talking loudly. Animatedly. Arguing maybe. She didn't know. She did know that the car was stopped at the end of a long alley mostly devoid of electrical illumination.

The familiar sound of compressed air alerted the primal sense of danger in her mind. It was close by, the front seat. She saw the officer on the passenger side with a dart in his chest. The gun sat in the paw of the lion in the driver's seat. She knew him, he was on her payroll but couldn't grasp his name.

"What's going on?" Her throat was raw as if she hadn't used it in years.

"I'll tell you what's going on, Swinton; we're going to disappear. I am not going to jail. You can-"

Something thunked on the roof of the car, as a gray cylinder fell past Swinton's window. There was a pop followed by the telltale hiss of a smoke grenade. As the gray smoke enveloped one side of the car, several more dropped down.

The lion switched to his lethal gun and opened his door but quickly shut it in a coughing fit.

"That's not-" a volley of coughs racked his lungs.

"That's not smoke." his voice was lethargic and he wavered in his seat, dropping his gun on the passenger side.

Swinton reared up in her seat as much as she could, being cuffed and strapped into a bench seat. Cars were not airtight but she did not see any wisps of the gas. But the police don't use knock-out gas. Flashbangs and smoke grenades were apart of their arsenal but knock-out gas was a bit out of their budget.

With a series of pops, several holes cracked spiderwebs into the windshield, the lion jerking with everyone. A thin spray of blood splattered the inside of the driver's seat from the silenced bullets.

She ducked down, waiting for more bullets to streak through the car. But none came. Silver streams of the smoke floated through the holes and her vision began to sway.

"Swinton." A stern voice in the fog called out to her.

Her breath came in shuddering gasps as she arduously moved up from her cower. A shadow moved in the fog. A small shadow with two long ears.

"Good lord!" she croaked. "She did come back to help him."

The dark specter came closer and Swinton's vision spun as the gas filled the car.

"You'll pay for what you have wrought."

Those were the last words she heard before everything went black.

* * *

The press room recording wasn't just streamed to the ZPD, but all the major news networks as well. Swinton's admittance to being a part of Lily's death cut through the late night infomercials and woke the city up early. The data dump Nick sent out was combed through causing a deluge of work for the ZPD and its Internal Affairs department. While no one arrest was as newsworthy as Swinton's, the sheer number of members of government and law enforcement complicit was staggering.

There were many gatherings from the public. Some were protesting, mad that their elected official was a dastardly villain, yet again. Others marched, talking about their fears of the sudden loss of so many police and government officials. But the biggest gathering of the public wasn't out of fear or anger.

As soon as it was announced that ex-Chief of Police Nicolas Wilde was at Zootopia General Hospital, herds of mammals began gathering outside the building. Starting as a candlelight vigil, soon retired police veterans stood guard of the crowd in their dress blues, led by an old cape buffalo. Signs were made and hefted about soon after, with phrases like "In Wilde We Trust", "Keep the Fox Free", "Justice for the Wildes" and a few with the simplistic drawings of the heads of a fox and two rabbits with "Love for all".

The news agencies had enough material for a year and a half of breaking news within a few days. Some things fell through the crack, not being big enough to be on the front page or among the topics of the nightly news. But Swinton's disappearance after her arrest was not one of them.

* * *

The bite of cold was what woke Swinton up. She was not yet to the point of shivering, but damn close. She went to pull her arms around herself but she could barely move them. There was a thick strap wrapped around her wrists and ankles.

Opening her eyes, she was greeted with darkness. There were a few dim lights dotting the room. Like the blank red eyes that the fox used to destroyed her plans.

Wriggling around, she felt the cold of the flat metal surface bite her flesh. Her clothes were gone, but there were strips of cloth covering her dignity.

"Hello?" Her voice came out as a rasp. A few coughs cleared her throat.

"Somebody help me!" She rattled in her restraints. "Get me out of here!"

Rumbling like thunder, a large door slid open. The light blinded the pig as she tried to see who was coming.

"Please, you have to help me. I...I.. Oh god. It's you." The mammal moved forward, a silhouette of a rabbit now standing before her.

"Judy, oh good lord. Please, Judy I-"

"Close but wrong." the rabbit said, flicking a switch. The florescent lights flickering to life.

It was a rabbit, but he wasn't Judy. Standing in a well-fitted suit, his fur was pure white only interrupted by three stripes of black on his cheeks and ear tips. The blue of his eyes were bright enough she could have sworn they were glowing. And there was something familiar about them. She felt like she had seen those eyes before.

With the room finally being illuminated, Swinton took stock of where she was. It looked like a large surgical suite. There were several large moveable chests against the wall in front of her. The rim of that wall had several images of x-rays inserted over the backlit display. She finally noticed that there was an IV inserted into her arm.

"Who are.. Where.. What the hell is going on?"

The rabbit gave a shy little smile.

"You're a few hundred miles out of Zootopia, at a ZIA black site."

The Zootopian Intelligence Agency is the federal agency responsible for providing national security intelligence and while that may be true, they are so much more. Most any conspiracy starts or ends with them. As a politician, it was always better to be ignored by them than not.

"You work for the ZIA?"

"Indeed I do. Special Operative Jack Savage." He flashed her a badge with his photo and the ZIA shield emblem before tossing it onto the top of one of the mobile cabinets.

"What does the ZIA want with me?"

"Nothing. This," he gestured to around the room, "is purely personal."

"You won't get away with this!"

The rabbit chuckled as if a young kit said something unintentionally hilarious.

"Quite the opposite, actually. While not officially sanctioned by the ZIA, they gladly look away every now and again while an operative engages in their predilection. Our handlers actually get a bit antsy if we don't go off the books every so often. Within reason, anyway."

"Kidnapping and murder are within reason?"

He looked at her flatly, like she said it was wrong that the sky was blue. "Darling, the kind of mammals who become operatives are not the kind who enjoy gentle hobbies like knitting or even the domestic bar brawl."

He pulled down one of the x-rays and walked over to her.

"You're here because you hurt my friends." With the x-ray film in one hand, he pulled out a marker, glancing between the film and Swinton's bare abdomen.

"Friends are a very rare commodity in my line of work." Setting the marker on her skin, he drew a dark circle over her kidney.

Swinton's eyes went wide with realization. "You worked with Wilde to take out the Skunkelly's."

"And made sure the cameras broadcasted to all the networks as well as the ZPD." He added.

Swinton's anger rose up again as she wrestled fruitlessly against her restraints.

"Please, don't tire yourself out. I want you fully conscious for this."

"For what?"

He put the x-ray back and grabbed another.

"I've had you sedated for some time. Nicholas has been out of surgery for nearly three days. He's been stable. Regardless, the prognosis is not good."

Glancing between the film and her body again, he put another circle on the left side of her ribcage, over her lung.

"If Nicholas passes before midnight tonight, I will reciprocate your actions against him on to you. And not only will there be no medical team to attempt to save your life, no buffalo will come in and stop me."

Swinton sniffled as a tear streamed down her face. Her voice wavering, she asked him, "Why?"

"You took everything from them, and then you took them from me. Deep down, he was… is a good mammal. He wanted justice for his wife and…" With his back to her, she saw his shoulders rise up as he took a deep, calming breath, "...little Lily."

"He wanted you behind bars and for you to see the city flourish in your absence."

With great care, he took off his dark jacket and laid it neatly next to his badge.

"But me? Deep down, I'm not a good mammal. Maybe I could have been good if things were different. If she…" he took in another breath as he rolled up his sleeves.

He opened his mouth to continue but the musical chirping of his phone cut him off. Holding it in his paw, he turned the alarm off.

"Midnight and Nicholas still lives."

A breath she didn't know she was holding wheezed out of her lungs. She had never been happier to hear that Wilde was doing good.

Jack walked up to the table, grabbed the at the restraints on her wrist and tightened them, causing the pig to gasp in surprised pain.

"What are you doing? You said you'd let me go if Wilde made it to midnight."

"I said no such thing." He moved to her other arm and then her legs. " I only said, I'd kill you the same way you killed him. I said nothing about letting you go."

Wheeling one of the cabinets over, he opened it and put one of the trays of surgical tools on the top of it.

"Honestly, if you had listened to Nicholas and just turned yourself in, he might have been able to talk me out of this."

"Please, don't. Don't do this."

His blue eyes blazed with a cold hatred the like which Swinton had never seen before. But those eyes, those brilliant blue eyes were so familiar.

"No, I don't have to. It won't bring them back. Any alleviation I get from this will only be temporary. But no one is more deserving of my wrath than you."

He took one of the sharp, slender, silver tools into his paw.

"The torments awaiting you in hell will be nothing to what I'm going to do to you."

Their eyes locked and Swinton gasped in understanding. She saw those same blue eyes in a school photo. The image of a young female rabbit kit with a missing tooth twirled around with the twin image of the same rabbit missing half of her face on a gray autopsy table.

"Lily." She whispered.

Jack's smile made Swinton's flesh crawl. "You have some shit luck, Swinton. You had to kill the one rabbit with the two most vengeful fathers on Earth."

* * *

Swinton's disappearance shortly after the reveal of her crooked handiwork was a mystery in Zootopia for quite awhile. As the years passed, the interest and intrigue of what might have happened waned with the citizenry. But before her legacy could be forgotten, she was found.

Seven years after her disappearance, a contractor looking to expand into some of the unused portion of the Meadowlands came upon the mutilated remains of a mammal. They were so disfigured and desiccated it was hard to actually figure out that it was a mammal once. It took a DNA test to find out who it actually was.

And as quickly as she came back into the headlines, she left them. Most assuming that she came across some very upset and unsavory citizens, or even picked up by one of the groups who were able to escape all the prosecution in the wake of her fall. Regardless of who brought her to her ill fate, it was finally over.

The only mystery left, was one the public was never told about. The remains that were found, had been dead for less than a week.

* * *

Sometime after Jack began reveling in his own proclivities, back in Zootopia General Hospital Nick Wilde stirred.

His one good eye cracked open, he saw a blur of a room. A dull ache was all he could feel over his body. Which made sense with all the drugs being pumped into him. The smell of plastic and antiseptic surged through his nose with a hint of iodine that stained shaved patches of his fur.

Machines beeped and a new surge of sedatives was sent through him. His eye closed and he slipped back into unconsciousness.

When consciousness finally caught back up with him, it must have been some time. There was no mask shoving oxygen into his muzzle and he could feel all his limbs properly. Cracking an eye open, he saw his room with more clarity but a lot less machinery.

"You're up."

He turned to see a giraffe in nurse's scrubs.

"It's about time too."

"How long have I been out?"

A smile flickered on her face. "Not long."

He sat up and was surprised that she didn't berate him for doing so. Usually, they only want minimal movement from their patients, regardless of whether they had a case to crack or not. But the giraffe just walked to the door and stood there, watching him.

Slowly, at first, he moved his arms, waiting to the ache of inactivity to run through them. But it never came, his limbs were as limber as ever. He gritted his teeth in anticipation of the cold tile floor on his feet only to find the floor a very agreeable temperature.

"If you would, follow me." She turned the knob and walked through the door, leaving it cracked open. "Please hurry, it would be a shame to lose you now."

A warm light emanated from the open door. Nick found his stride to be easy and even, which seemed odd since he remembered getting shot in the leg. His hand pulled the door open and the warm light expanded before him. Expecting a hall or a nurse's station, he was befuddled to find grass and greenery of a beautiful park. Not far off, under the shade of a large tree was a checkered picnic blanket. A gray rabbit in a pink plaid shirt and a large sun hat, rummaged through a picnic basket while a smaller rabbit eagerly bounced on her toes.

Nick choked out their names. "Judy? Lily?"

Holding the door open he glanced back at the room. A crowd of nurses and doctors surrounding the bed with various medical equipment. Compared to the view of the park, the room looked drab and covered in a hazy blue fog. All the mammals were moving in frantic but slow motions. At the center of their sluggish commotion was a heavily bandaged fox, only recognizable due to a pointed ear sticking out from the bandages. The hazy color faded around the fox, vanishing into blackness and slowly began to envelop the mammals surrounding him.

"I can not force you to go, fox. But it would be advisable." The giraffe said. Her scrubs had vanished and instead of yellow with black spots, her body pulsed with an otherworldly energy that occasionally revealed her skeleton.

He took a step and felt the cool grass crunch against his feet. Looking back, the doorway was gone, replaced by more wonderful acreage of greenery.

The ethereal giraffe tilted her head, as Nick stood watching the two bunnies set up their picnic.

"They didn't need to wait for you but were adamant about it. Especially the older one."

Nick rushed forward and soon had his arms full of bunnies.

"What took you, Slick?"

"I had a promise to keep, Carrots."

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

So we have reached the end of this tale. Kind of happy. Well revenge stories aren't all sunshine and rainbows. Destiny, the ethereal giraffe at the end, belongs to Kittah4 and his Celestials from his Different Tails shorts on Archive Of Our Own. Go read his stuff, it's great!

 **Now as you can see, I haven't marked this story complete yet. That because I have one more idea. But how, you may be asking. Nick is dead and Swinton is... well the less said the better. How could the story continue? Well, you'll have to wait and see. Hopefully not too long though!**


	3. Agent Savage's First Contact Part 1

"But me? Deep down, I'm not a good mammal. Maybe I could have been good if things were different. If she…" Jack's train of thought was interrupted with images of a smiling tan furred kit.

Her image lingered.

If things were different. If Lily was alive, she might have been his anchor. A distant glimmering speck of hope for his soul.

If only things were different.

Perhaps somewhere, it was different.

* * *

Each of Zootopia Northern University's buildings were dedicated to a single field of study; Science, math, law, art, and so on. McCoy Hall was dedicated to the study of law. Many mammals enrolled to be law officers and lawyers enter in McCoy Hall but only the dedicated leave with degrees. With her bookbag slung over her shoulder, arm full of files and legal briefs, and a cell phone cradled between her other shoulder and one of her long ears, Lily Wilde had her paws full as she walk out of McCoy Hall. She was very much a dedicated mammal.

"I've just been really busy. Between all my classes and clerking for Professor Saiga, I'm lucky if I remember to eat. I swear, once this semester is done, I'll come down and see you guys."

"You better! Your father and I miss you, and I'm sure your brothers would love to see their big sister again." Judy's ever chipper voice rang through the phone's speaker.

"More like older sister. I haven't been bigger than either of them since they hit puberty. Foxes sure do sprout don't they?"

The two rabbits shared a chuckle as Lily made her way through the near empty parking lot. Her small hatchback sat under one of the few working lights that dotted the lot. Night had fallen hours ago but both rabbits allowed their work to dictate their sleep habits more than the sun.

"Professor Saiga? Didn't you have him a few semesters back?"

"Yeah, advanced legal writing and then business torts. Why?" She was suspicious of her mother's tone.

Balancing the files in one paw, she dug out her key fob and popped her trunk before gravity could take a full hold of the files. With a huff she hefted them into her trunk.

"You had several classes with him."

"Two." She corrected.

"Now you're working together."

"He has five students working for him, me included." Her foot tapped angrily knowing what her mother was working towards.

"Well, I just want to know if we should expect him over for the holidays or not."

And there it was.

With a disgusted groan, she hung her head, grabbing the phone with her now free paw before it slipped away.

"Sweet baby cheeses, mother! He's older than you or dad. It'd be like dating Uncle Finn."

Judy's laugh almost turned into a cackle before she settled down.

"Well I remember a little rabbit kit who said she was going to marry that little fox."

"I was two." Lily hoped her mother could hear her rolling her eyes. She couldn't remember ever saying that about Uncle Finnick but both of her parents loved to drag that little story out all the time.

"Four." She corrected.

"Enough about me, how's it being the only girl in the house?"

"Right now, I'm enjoying one of the rare moments of peace and quiet. Mike is playing hockey and Nick took Junior with them. So it's just me, a glass of wine, and-"

"A stack of case files?"

A deflated sigh came from the phone. "Yep."

"How do you like reviewing those files instead of writing them, Chief?"

"I think I owe Bogo several apologies."

Lily paused ready to toss her bookbag into the passenger seat. The bag felt heavier than usual but the only difference was one additional file. It surprised her how much weight a dozen or so sheets of paper added. Although it was more the content of those pages, than the pages themselves.

Her mother broke her silence. "Are you okay?"

Her drooping ears wobbled as she shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…"

She held her bottom lip with her teeth, contemplating confessing her fears to her mother. Lily knew if she did, she wouldn't be talking to her mother but Chief Wilde instead. There would be heavily armored vehicles tearing through the campus as several T.U.S.K. teams repelled down from a fleet of helicopters. As it stood, all Lily had was a nagging suspicion. But being the daughter of two of the most decorated officers of the ZPD lead her suspicions to be more accurate than most, usually. She hoped this was one of the times she was wrong.

"It's nothing, mom. But you'll be the first to know if it is something."

"If you say so sweety. Just remember you can talk to us about anything, alright?"

"I know, mom. But I should get going. I still have a load of laundry and a sink full of dishes waiting for me at the apartment."

The two rabbits said their I love yous and goodbyes, leaving Lily alone in the parking lot. It wasn't a lie that she had chores waiting for her at home, but going over the file in her bag was going to supercede any domestic drudgery. Finding out if her mentor was involved in some shady business that made her father's old life seem moral was a bigger imperative. Her mind stewed on that thought a bit longer than she wanted, which allowed the mammal walking up to slip her notice.

"Are you Ms Wilde?"

* * *

"So how's retirement treating you, Stripes?" Through the phone Nick's voice walked over the rumbling of a crowd.

"Quiet." Jack Savage responded sitting on a bench, the clear night sky above him. "A tad boring. And don't you start with the 'get a hobby' line again, Nicholas. I just spent the last week putting a ship in a bottle."

"And?"

"It was exceedingly tedious." While his voice conveyed all the contempt he had for the dreadful hobby, the ends of his mouth tugged slightly upwards. It always seemed to do that when he talked with Nick.

Nick's barking laugh morphed into a howl of excitement. "Way to go Mike!"

"Are you sure we should be talking during your kid's game?"

"It's fine. Mike's on the ice and Nicky is hanging with his little crew."

"What about you, Nicholas? How is life as _Commandant_ Wilde?"

The fox scoffed. "You know that's basically a made up title, right? I'm still just a Captain."

"But you're no longer confined to a single precinct. You now hold court over the Academy. Captain doesn't quite fit that bill. Your title has prestige."

"Although I'd argue that Chief would have been better. Chief of Police Academics and Training, Nick Wilde."

"I don't think Zootopia could handle two Chief Wildes at once."

The two shared a chuckle.

"Now that I think of it, if you're so bored why not come down and show us coppers a thing or two?"

A devilish smirk played on the rabbit's face. "That would not be a good idea. You have to play within the rules of law. Everything I did came with a 'by any means necessary' addendum."

"Well, anytime you want to yell at and belittle some mammals just let me know and I'll toss you in as a drill instructor."

The loud buzzer sounded from Nick's side, signaling the end of the first period.

"I'd ask you what you're doing, Stripes, but I'm sure you're sitting on that bench waiting for her."

The slight smile he held wavered back down. He's been officially retired from the ZIA for two years. Ever since then, he had been slowly working his way to meet with Lily Wilde. For the past semester he sat at this bench watching McCoy Hall at least once a week.

"So are you finally going to do it tonight?" There was a serious edge to Nick's voice.

Jack let out a breath. "Every time you ask me that, I say yes. But it ends up a lie."

Jack looked up at McCoy Hall, the massive building's lights were out or dimmed. Every time he saw her, he became a statue. The first time she walked out the doors, he didn't dare breathe, fearing she would disappear if he was noticed. Breathing again after her tail lights disappeared.

"I've taken on vicious mammals ten times my size. I've been a hair's breadth away from near armageddon multiple times. And I've been close to death so often that we exchange Christmas cards. So why the hell can't I talk to one simple doe?"

"Because it's easier to die than to let someone else into your heart. Especially yours, Jack."

Damn that fox. Of all the mammals Jack has ever met, Nick was the second to every really understand him. Their first dealing with one another was rough, to say the least, but in the end they had become like brothers. In some ways he is what Jack could have been like if tragedy never struck. A memory of flower petals and rice floated into his mind. They twisted into shards of glass and blood as they fell. He shoved that memory back behind the thick walls that usually kept it at bay. It never helped to think about that. To think about her.

"You know, you always could just come for dinner when she's over. You don't have to approach her in the dark of night at her school's campus. It would be better, since most mammals would consider what you're doing the basis for a restraining order."

"I appreciate it, but I need to talk to her alone. I need to-" A cramp flared through his leg. With his mind running circles as he waited for her, his body literally ached for movement. As he got up from the bench Jack groaned in pain, his thigh burning from the sudden activity. "Blasted leg."

With his cane he took two hobbled steps before his gait lost most of its limp.

"That's what happens when you shatter your femur, Stripes. Be happy you're not in one of those electric wheel chairs."

"If that damned pig didn't book it, I would be fine." Jack flexed his leg, feeling the pain quiet to a dull ache then slowly vanish as he did a few exercises he learned in physical therapy.

"You know," Nick's voice went soft in a distant thought. "I think about that case every now and then. I'm not entirely sure why. It's like I feel it should be a bigger part of my life. A turning point or something."

"It was for me." His paw absently rub his thigh.

He found himself back in Zootopia while following the trail of a weapons dealer. Enlisting the help of the ZPD they discovered the buyers were a group of hired guns. While the ZPD team took care of them, he chased the mammal with the money, a low level politician. They wound up on the roof of the abandoned tenement the gang used as their headquarters. The two scuffled, ending with her losing balance on the edge. In a last ditch effort to find any purchase, she latched onto Jack and pulled him off with her. They tumbled down six stories onto the harsh concrete below. Or at least she did. Jack had most of a pig to cushion his landing. It was still enough to shatter his femur and fracture his hip, among several less damaging wounds.

It was while recuperating in the hospital that Jack decided to start planning for his retirement.

"I thought the doc gave you and your leg a clean bill of health?"

"Still hurts from time to time."

The creek of the main doors to McCoy hall echoed in the crisp night air. Jack's head snapped towards the sound and watched an over encumbered rabbit make her way out and down the steps.

Even by the dim light he could see her bright cobalt eyes as she merrily chatted on her phone.

"She just came out didn't she? I can hear you _not_ breathing." Nick's smile was hard to mistake, even when it couldn't be seen. "I'll let you go, Stripes."

There was a beep and Jack's phone went black.

His good leg took one step forward as she put a load of files in the trunk of her car. There was no complain from his other leg when he took another step as she made her way to the passenger side. Before he could take a third step, large marmot stepped out of the shadows. He tightened the grip on his cane as he moved words them silently.

"Are you Ms. Wilde?", The marmot asked with a hard accent.

Jack saw her body shift slightly, moving into a subtle defensive position. Self defense was taught early and expertly in the Wilde household.

"Yes." Her cobalt eyes darting over the taller mammal.

"You have something not yours. Give to me or I make trouble."

There was an unmistakable click of a switch blade being drawn. Lily's eyes snapped to the sliver of sharpened metal.

A voice raged in Jack to run out there and take care of the marmot. It screamed at him and igniting a fire in his bones. Save her. Protect her. She's so close. Please, it begged him, not again.

Ignoring the internal roar he stalked forward, staying in the shadows and observing her. This was a simple mugging, she had to be able to deal with that. Another voice, quieter but authoritative, simply said watch and wait.

"O-okay." she moved her paws towards her purse. "Just let me get it."

"No. Just open. I get." He pointed to her purse with a slight jab of the knife.

Jack saw an inherited foxy smirk flicker on the side of her mouth. "Fine by me."

Opening her purse, she thrust it over the knife wielding paw and closed it. Most purses were just faux leather or cloth which would allow a blade to cut straight through. But she's the daughter of the two most high profile members of the ZPD and therefore a target for their enemies' ire. All of her accessories weren't just fashionable but also tactical. She even wore a kevlar dress to prom, so if a purse wasn't at least knife resistant it wasn't worth having.

He thrashed around uselessly in her purse, cutting up all her stashed receipts and putting new knicks and dings into her bullet proof compact.

Folding back the handles, Lily clamped the purse around his hand and she began to pull and twist at his limb. The dusty marmot screeched before lunging at her in a blind rage. She let go of his pursed paw and grabbed at the other paw coming at her claws first. Using his own momentum, she pulled his arm down, flinging him into the side of her car. Now upside down, gravity took care of the rest as his head met with the very solid asphalt.

A warmth swelled up in the older rabbit's chest, his cheeks stretching into a very proud smile. The voice that told him to watch wondered if she was just as proficient with firearms.

* * *

That was one hell of a way to confirm her suspicions. At least now she was fine with momma Wilde calling down the T.U.S.K. choppers. The marmot moaned as she pulled her purse off his paw, but the knock to his head made any resistance feeble. Seeing the blade absent from his paw, Lily cautiously reached into her purse. A smooth dull edge of a phone was easily found and pulled out. But the knife came with it, speared through the center of the phone.

"I doubt this is covered by the warranty." She groaned, tossing it back into her purse.

Her car keys were flung out during the tussle and were sprawled on the rim of the lamp post's dim light. As she reached over to scoop them up a snow colored foot stomped on her wrist. Pulling her arm back with a yelp she watched the siberian lynx kick her keys into the darkened parking lot. His paw latched onto her head and slammed her into her own car. Her head exploded with pain sending bright spots swirling in her vision.

"Gluppy krolik." The lynx growled in a foreign tongue.

A clawed paw grabbed her by the throat, lifting her into the air. Stars danced in her vision as the four yellow eyes of the lynx swirled into two. The strap to her bookbag tugged at her shoulder. Her thoughts were as sluggish as her arms, trying to understand why a bit of darkness came to life and began pulling at her bag. Blinking a few times, her star filled vision cleared to reveal a midnight coated sable pulling her bag off her shoulder. A pleading whimper escaped her throat as the strap slid down her arm and into the sable's paws. The sable said something in a foreign tongue that made the others laugh. At her dangling feet, the marmot moaned and slowly got up.

"That's no way to treat a lady." The voice cut through the night as the four of them turned to look at another rabbit standing at the edge of the light. His dark grey suit matched the three stripes on his cheeks as he leaned on a simple wooden cane with his paw.

The sable sneered at him as he pulled out another heavy lawbook from the bag. "This is not your business, old rabbit."

With his free paw, the lynx opened the front of his jacket. Even in her daze Lily knew the grip of a gun when she saw one.

"Unhand her or I will alert the authorities."

She wanted to scream. To yell at the rabbit to run and get help. But the lynx's paw only just gave her room to breathe. His golden eyes flickered to his marmot companion and motioned to Lily with a nod. His stubby paws grabbed her, one twisting her arm behind her back while the other covered her mouth. The lynx wheeled around and pointed the gun inches from the older rabbit's face.

"Leave now. Or we bury two rabbits tonight."

* * *

It was a cheap handgun. Mass marketed and built from plastic for the most part. It was kitted out with mods but all were of a cosmetic nature; designs were engraved into the grip and barrel glinted with faux gold. Cheap attempts at intimidation with no tactical purpose which would only frighten the easily scared and ignorant. This show of force was almost insultingly unimpressive to Jack. But the cat did not know that.

He jeered at his cohorts. The three of them were young, Lily's age at the oldest but probably younger. Life in the Slavic lands is tough and can age a mammal prematurely. More so if they attempt to gain entrance to the bigger mob families that more or less run the areas. He gave Jack an attempt at an intimidating fang-filled smile which was just as unimpressive as the gun. Sure his chompers were filed and sharpened beyond the legal limits but with several missing and the rest looking like they've been awash in too many drug vapors to be sturdy, Jack felt more pity than fear. Almost. The cat did have his paws around Lily's throat a moment ago. It's hard to pity someone when every fiber of his being was screaming to squeeze his throat hard enough to make his eyes pop out.

Stealing a glance back to his comrades the lynx smirked and spoke in their native language. " _It's fun to play with your food, isn't it?_ "

" _It's bad manners to play with your food._ "

All three of the hoodlums froze at the rabbits fluency. Jack smirked at their slack jawed daze and took action.

Yanking the top of his cane, the handle separated revealing a blade. In a blink, the gleaming blade sliced across the lynx's paw, loosening his grip on the gun. With his free paw Jack swiped the gun away and fired off two shots before the lynx registered he lost it. The sable and the marmot twitched with the impact and slumped onto the ground. They died without even realizing it.

The lynx found the smoking barrel of his gun shoved into his face and stepped back. Jack stepped forward shoving his blade against the inside of the lynx's thigh. The feline attempted another backwards step only to be stopped by Lily's car.

"You are going to answer my questions. If you don't, I'll pull the trigger. If I don't feel your answers are truthful, I will make you speak the truth." He angled the knife up, its pointed tip grazing a very sensitive orb through the lynx's pants.

"Do we have an understanding?"

The lynx nodded vigorously.

"Why her?" Jack tipped his head toward the shocked rabbit.

He gave Lily a swift sideways glance, " _We were told she had some of our property_."

"Be specific, comrade."

" _I can't, Dmitry knew what it was, we were just muscle._ " He nodded towards the fallen sable.

His blue eyes narrowed, "Who sent you?"

The lynx's maw opened and, from the sneer on his face, Jack knew it would have been some attempt at mysterious intimidation and deflection. _You're worst nightmare_. _People who burry mammals like you_. Or something like that. Nothing he hasn't heard ad nauseum, most of which would be all sound and no fury.

But instead there was the revving of engines and screeching of several tires as headlights flashed across them.

"Down!" Jack yelled to Lily, who was out of her daze enough to grab her bag from the fallen sable before following his order. Dropping the knife, Jack grabbed the lynx and moved the feline in front of the two rabbits.

Several black bikes rocketed by accompanied by the staccato burst of gunfire. The lynx shook with each impact. They vanished back into the black of night.

Jack turned to Lily, her eyes wide in shock. "Get in the car. Now!"

* * *

She could hear the blood pulsing through her ears as the adrenaline surged through her body. Dead bodies weren't entirely new to her, with a few mammal anatomy classes under belt several semesters ago. But a cadaver is quite different than seeing a mammal die. Regardless of the fact they were threatening her life, death is a scary and humbling thing. Right now it wasn't all that humbling.

She slammed the passenger door shut and felt the car shift as Jack got in the driver's side. On pure instinct she secured herself with the seatbelt. Her mother drilled that little motion into her brain as early as possible. Nowt whenever she was in a car, it felt wrong not to buckle up.

"The keys!" She gasped realizing they were somewhere in the darkened parking lot.

But Jack put a little black fob of his own into the ignition. A red light came on and turned green as the mid range engine purred to life.

"Wait, how'd you-" her question was slammed back into her mouth as her tires squealed and her car took off at a surprising speed. She knew her speedometer ended almost at two hundred miles per hour but the fastest she ever pushed her car was about eighty, and that was only once.

Tearing her eyes off the scenery whipping by at such unreal speeds, she looked at the rabbit driving. His eyes, as old as he looked, seemed sharper than hers, laser focused on the darkened night road ahead of them.

"Are you hurt?" His voice held only a modicum of compassion, sounding more like a command than a query while he kept his attention to the road. But it was an effective voice, authoritative without condescension. Her paws ran over her own body in a quick double check. Nothing hurt as she moved and the only blood on her was from the marmot.

"No, I'm fine. Just a bit of a sore throat."

Blowing through a stop sign, the giraffe sized vehicle slammed on its horn and brakes as it nealy that careened into them.

"But we won't be if you keep driving like this."

Lily was shoved against the door as Jack took a sharp turn, the sounds of horns and screeching tires faded quickly behind them.

"Our odds are better at higher speeds than not."

His eyes darted up to the rear view mirror, she turned to look out the back. Two cars had collided in their wake. Four black motorcycles flew through the standstill, weaving through the accident.

"They're catching up fast."

He grunted in agreement and took another sharp turn down a dimly lit back alley. Anger flared within her as the car skidded against the tight walls, showering the darkened alleyway with sparks. This was her car and he was ruining it. She wanted to scream at him to be more careful but the four headlights that followed them into the alley silenced her rage. For whatever the reason, this rabbit was intent on saving her not her car.

This rabbit whose name she didn't even know.

"Who are you?"

His eyes turned to her for barely a moment. She expected to see something in his cerulean eyes and she did. It was not what she expected. There was no sternness likes of which he was giving to his driving. There was no anger. In that briefest of glances, she saw the unmistakeable look of fear. A resigned fear. As if he were a gambler and she was a trump card the house dealt against him. This rabbit, who had a gun inches from his face and didn't blink, was afraid of her.

That just raised even more questions.

But his answer didn't come. Movement in the rearview mirror took his attention.

"Get down."

Foam exploded from her headrest as soon as she ducked. Several spiderweb cracks appeared over the rear window as bullets flew through.

The firing ceased as the alley opened up. Two of the bikes sped up, splitting to the opposite sides of the car. Lily saw them unholster their guns. Ducking wouldn't help either of them now. Her life began flashing before her eyes while looking down the barrel of the gun through her window.

The brakes grind as they were slammed down. A horrible screech let out as the emergency brake was pulled up. The car twisted sideways, slamming into the two bikes as it spun. The front of the car swung out, crushing one biker against the wall. The other biker was rammed up the alley by the back. The car shuddered as it crunched over something. The headlights flashed momentarily over a heap of limbs at unnatural angles under a crushed bike

Now facing the opposite direction, the rabbit released the emergency brake and hit the gas hard. She saw the last biker draw his gun but her driver was quicker, pulling out the gun he took from the lynx and fired off several shots before the biker could fully level theirs. The black leather clad body fell on the steering column of the bike and swerved into a dumpster.

In silence they drove back the way they came. As they peeked out of the alley, Lily shrunk back at the first set of headlights that flew by them. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she tried to remind herself that not everything was trying to kill her tonight. Especially not that rusted Furd Pinto with the pizza delivery signed magnetized to what was left of the roof.

The repetitive click of the blinker brought her attention back to the driver, who turned into traffic and began following the appropriate traffic laws.

"The name's Jack Savage and we have much to discuss Ms. Wilde."

* * *

Lily woke with a start, finding herself on a couch in a sparsely decorated apartment. There was a small but dull painting of a cityscape hanging next to the large bay window. A ship that looked like it had been through several wrecks was stuck in a bottle on the coffee table in front of the couch. Everything else was an untouched flat white.

A high pitched whistle brought her attention to the kitchen, where the striped ears of Jack Savage bobbed about. After the kettle was silenced, he walked out with two cups of tea.

"Good to see you awake. Have some tea. It helps calm the nerves."

Setting the tray down, he took his cup and sat in the chair across from Lily. Her bag lay in the chair next to him.

"Where am I?"

Jack took a deliberate swallow of his tea, savoring the flavor.

"My apartment."

She gave the place a second glance and, other than the dull painting and the bottled ship, it didn't look lived in.

"You just move in?" She reached out and grabbed her cup, steam still wafting off the top.

He gave a nervous cough. "I've been here over two years."

"You might want to look into getting a decorator because-"

The cutting wit she inherited from her vulpine father screeched to a halt as her eyes noticed a wet splotch on Jack. At first she thought it was from making tea, but hot water shouldn't tear through cloth.

"You've been shot."

Jack's head snapped up and looked towards the darkened spot on his arm.

"Just a graze. It's nothing to worry about."

In a flash she was up and was pulling off his jacket. He gave little opposition to the doe's action.

With the jacket off, and carefully folded as not to stain anything else with blood, the bright red blotch on his upper arm was a vivid contrast to his white shirt.

"Take off your shirt." She ordered. "Do you have a first aid kit?"

He pointed to a hallway. "Bathroom cupboard. Second door on the right."

Self defense was not the only thing taught in the Wilde household. By the time she graduated high school, she could have taken a job as an EMT. She wasn't too eager to deal with blood and guts on a daily basis. It was easier to read the words "disemboweled victim" than to see one.

Along with the first aid kit she took a washcloth from the cupboard and wetted it down. On her way back she paused at the other room. The door was open. Various canvases littered the floor. Most of them had two pale blue moons painted on the mostly white canvas, occasionally a black upturned triangle was painted below the moons. Every painting was focused on the dual lunar imagery, except for one. In the center of the room there was an easel with a canvas on it still being painted.A work in progress. From the ears of the sketched silhouette, it was a rabbit. But its eyes, the only part that was painted, were a deep, vibrant blue.

"Did you find it?" Jack called from the living room.

"Oh!" She darted away from the small studio. "Yes. Yes I did. It was right where you…"

Jack stood shirtless in front of his chair. His stripes didn't stop at his face, as two black stripes slashed across the sides of his toned abdomen. It wasn't his fitness that gave Lily pause, but the scars. His body was like an abstract painting of pain. The fur was constantly interrupted by pale raised skin of old wounds; slashes, stabs, a peppering of bullets, and burns. From the collar bone up, he looked to be a most excellent specimen of lapin features, if a bit on the older side. Everything below that looked like a hundred miles of bad road. The newest bump was a deep red patch on his right shoulder.

"Something wrong?"

She stopped her arm holding the firs aid kit from shaking as she found her voice. "S-scars."

Opening the kit, she took out the small bottle of disinfectant.

"I've never seen anyone with that many scars, not even bigger mammals." The washcloth was stained crimson after she cleaned the wound. "This might sting."

With the wet cloth beneath the wound, she poured the cleansing liquid which fizzed slightly on contacting the open flesh. Jack didn't react. No hiss of pain or even a twitch in acknowledgement that anything happened. A bit slack jawed, Lily quickly finished tending to his wound with antibiotic covered gauze and a tight wrapping.

Putting the supplies back into the kit she made to pick it up, but Jack held out a paw.

"I'll take it. I have to get a new shirt anyway."

Heading into the hallway he called back to Lily before disappearing into the far door. "And please bring out whatever it was those thugs were trying to take from you."

It didn't take long for him to get a spare shirt. Walking into the living room he eyed the manila folder on the coffee table as he buttoned his cuffs.

"Give me a run down, Ms Wilde."

"I've been working with Professor Saiga for almost a year. Mostly filing and digitizing old cases to clear space. Occasionally helping with active cases, in minor capacities."

Jack made a rolling motion with his paw.

"Anyway, a few days ago I find this file on my digitize pile. But it isn't a case file." She opened it. Each page was filled with columns of numbers. One column was obviously dates, another had either a plus or minus sign before the numbers, and the last one seemed random..

"It reads like a bank statement but those are usually labeled. And while ZNU is prestigious, I doubt any professor there makes enough to have transactions like these."

After looking at a few pages, Jack put them back into the folder and laid it upside down on the table.

"I have to make a call."

As Jack picked up his cordless phone, Lily had a sudden rush of guilt flash through her. Instinctively she reached for her purse only to remember it was laying in the university parking lot. Surrounded by three dead bodies. The gunfire would not have gone unnoticed and the ZPD would have been called. As Chief, Judy would be informed of a shooting at her daughter's school. Her stomach dropped as she thought about her mother attempting to call her phone and only getting voicemail because it was run through with a switchblade.

"I need to call my parents."

Cradling the cordless landline against a his shoulder Jack dug his cell out of his pocket. Unlocking it with a few swipes and taps he tossed it to her. As she dialed, his call was connected which drew her attention back to him.

"This is Savage." He walked towards a switch by the bay window and flicked it. The clear glass of the window went dark. The bright lights of the Zootopian cityscape became a twinkling star field on the screen. "Clearance zeta tango alpha. Code delta five gamma. Intel incoming."

He moved with a surety that came with years of experience. Like a soldier putting their weapon back together after breaking it down to clean it. Or Grandma Hopps' ability to change a diaper in the midst of any situation. He put a paw under the coffee table and there was an audible click. A beam of green light emanated from under the table's surface and swept across. Lily had never seen a scanner that doubled as a table but was confused as to why he didn't lay out the pages. All that he scanned was a folder cover.

"Cross reference intel with a Professor Saiga from Zootopia Northern University. Start with standard exploratory detail expansions. I'll call back if I see a bread crumb the team missed."

Every page from the folder began appearing on the black glass of the window along with the ZNU staff photo of the bulbous nosed antelope Professor. With the call ended Jack began sifting through the photos and info that appeared on the touch sensitive window.

The slack jawed stare from the doe eventually burned into his fur. He turned towards her and questioned her with a cock of his head.

"Who.." she began before realizing she already asked that. "What are you?"

"Special operative for the ZIA." His eyes flickered momentarily before deciding to elaborate a little. "Retired."

More information started popping up on the screen, including several paw-written teacher schedules. Lily blinked several times before she tore her eyes away from the screen and back to the phone and the impending call to her parents.

She had only put in the first few numbers but her mother's personal cell number auto filled the screen. On top of the was the label "Judy H".

"Why is my mother's number saved in your phone?"


	4. Agent Savage's First Contact Part 2

"Why is my mother's number saved in your phone?"

The question ground the gears in Jack's mind connecting the professor and the unlabeled bank statement to a halt. His mistake froze him with fear.

"I ah…" His mind whirred trying to figure out what to say. The truth did not seem like an option. Their situation was complicated enough with Slavic mobsters that were somehow tied to her teacher. Adding in family drama would only make things harder. So he decided on a slight twisting of the truth.

A part of him pined for the times of being strapped to some elaborate death mechanism. At least if he failed to get out of those, he'd be dead. A fate more bearable than having her despising him.

"All field operatives have access to local leading law enforcement personnel contacts."

A few overly long heartbeats later and the doe nodded with a hum of acknowledgment and made the call.

Jack let out a silent sigh of relief.

On the second ring, Judy picked up. There was indistinct chatter of a police radio in the background and with the distant sound of Judy's voice on speakerphone, Lily knew the Chief was in her car.

"Now's really not the time, J-" Her voice was panicked, Lily could hear the tears in her voice.

"Mom, it's me." There was a deep inhale of relief on the other side of the line. "I'm fine. I was rescued by Jack Savage."

The police radio dimmed and Judy's voice came back sounding subdued.

"What happened?"

She recounted the events of the night so far as best she could, there was a lot that still felt like a blur to her. She wondered if it was better that way. Her mother never said anything or asked for elaborations, only letting out small sounds of worry and shock throughout. At the end of Lily's tale, she sighed with some relief.

"Stay with Jack. He'll keep you safe."

"Okay." She felt like a little kit again, following the adults' orders with no questions asked. Although with the night she'd had, she was very much fine with letting the Chief of Police and a ZIA agent coordinate her safety. It allowed her mind to be free from cowering from every shadow and sudden movement.

"Can I talk to him?"

"Sure." She pulled the phone away from her ear and held it out to Jack. "My mom wants to talk to you."

She cringed at her very childish phrasing. Saying the Chief or Judy would have been more adult sounding than mom. This little feeling of being a kit again wasn't something she was fine with.

Taking the phone, Jack took several steps away. Far enough that anything Judy said would not be easily picked up by their progeny.

"Thank goodness you were there, Jack. The report in made it sound like a bloodbath."

"That's an overstatement. Additionally, there will be some trashed bikes and more bodies down the alley past South Ursus."

"Sweet cheese and crackers, Jack. Are there any other bodies I need to be aware of?"

"No." He quickly added. "Not yet."

"So…" Her voice shifted, losing its professional manner. "Have you talked with her?"

He sighed, talking about this subject with Nick was venting a frustration. Jack was the one driving those conversations, Nick would resign himself to comforting verbal nods of understanding and occasionally commenting with either a salient point or sarcasm. Judy was a pesterer. She never liked the pact of secrecy but respected him enough to never break it. Taking a few more cautionary steps, Jack walked into the kitchen for a bit more privacy. "There have been some matters that have taken precedent."

"Oh for crying out loud, Jack! She's right there. Just turn to her and tell her."

"That would not be prudent at the moment."

"Put me on speakerphone then."

"Ju-" Pinching the bridge of his muzzle, he caught himself from sounding too familiar with Lily's mother. "Chief Wilde, I will tend to that issue personally. Your services are not needed on _that_ matter."

"Fine, fine." She acquiesced to him and shifted back to her professional tone. "Until we figure out what's going on, I want her safe and secure. You'll protect our daughter, right?"

"With my life."

"Thank you, Jack. I'm almost at the scene, I have to go. Give her my love."

"Will do, Chief."

The line went silent and he put the phone back in his pocket as he returned to the living area. Lily was at the interactive wall of data, reading the files on her Professor. She knew him as Professor Peter Saiga but he had a list of alias including his actual name Pyotr Saiga. His career started as a low-level money launder and accountant for The Kamchatka clan, a mob run by some of the most ruthless bears in the northern hemisphere. He rose in ranks and eventually found himself in the upper echelons of the mob hierarchy. Twenty years ago the clan attempted to squeeze into Zootopia. Instead of trying to play nice with the mobs already in power, they ignited a bloody underground war. Five years into their move to Zootopia the majority of the clan were behind bars except for Saiga. Official ZPD reports listed his status as at large. Unofficially, many figured he was just another casualty in the mob war.

"But why me?" Lily mumbled to herself as she tried to fit these new pieces into the puzzle.

"Best not to dwell on it."

Lily's red tipped ears shot upwards in attention. "What now?"

"You sit here and stay safe. I'll go over what I can here and send the rest to the intel team. From there, a field operative will deal with the Professor."

"Deal with?" Her ears drooped in suspicion, "You mean they're going to kill him."

"Yes."

"No." The defiance in her voice sent a shock of electricity through Jack.

The older rabbit cleared the screen with a swipe, turning it back into a window.

"No? You would rather have him live?"

"He needs to face justice and be tried for his crimes, not murdered."

Crossing his arms, Jack frowned at his idealistic daughter. An annoying but admirable trait she inherited from her mother.

"There's no case against him. All the evidence here, aside from what you brought me, can not be used in a court of law. And a terrible lawyer could get those thrown out of court. Even if an investigation against him is started tonight, there's enough red tape to give him time to clean his trail and vanish like he did before. You may not like it, but if you want to see your next birthday, having the ZIA take care of him is the safest course of action."

"Then I'll make most of my last year."

Jack's heart slammed into his stomach. She grabbed the files, shoving them back into her bag and hefted it over her shoulder.

"Stop."

"No." There was a raging fury in her blue eyes. "He may have sent those thugs to kill me but if he is to face any punishment it will be from the justice system, not from government sanctioned black op assassins. Now where the hell are my keys?"

She held out her paw towards the older rabbit, the fact that her keys were at an active crime scene was lost on her in that moment. Their eyes locked. Her lips pursed in a furious frown. His brow furrowed in a glacial pace. He was one of the ZIA's best agents. He is her father. Every bone in his body roared to force her acceptance that Saiga's death would be for the best. But there was a whisper that silenced that thought, he might be a loose end. Something he missed. The antelope might know his secret. He might have told others.

A vision of a snow white vixen flashed across his mind. The pale blue of her eyes deepened as blood stained her white fur. The red seeped into her fur and darkened into tans and browns until she was no longer a vixen but a young rabbit with flame tipped ears.

"Sit." He commanded.

Before she could gnash her teeth and spit out a furious response he turned back to the window and began calling up more data. Her rage flared seeing he wasn't bringing up more information on Saiga. The flare sputtered into nothing as she realized whose information he was bringing up.

It was hers.

Photos, school records, medical records, and a whole lot more.

"What are you doing?" her voice was next to him, barely a whisper.

"Looking at other angles."

"Does the ZIA have records like this on everyone?"

"More or less." Anyone who has worked with the ZIA are thoroughly vetted and have extensive files. Immediate family members are even looked into, causing their files to be bigger than average. Although he made sure that her paternal information was absent.

Her paw reached out and dragged a photo of her as a small bundle of blankets with ears towards her. This was the same photo her dad, her fox father, had on his desk. It was her first picnic, or rather her parents' first picnic with her since she was too young to remember it. Judy had a small swaddled form in her arms, Lily's scrunched baby face barely visible. Next to Judy, with one arm around her and the other helping cradle their bundle of joy, was Nick. The smile on his face was genuine to the point of almost looking idiotic.

"What about my father?"

"Oh yes. Nicholas Wilde has-"

"No, my real father."

His heart stopped.

"Whenever I asked my parents about him all the answers they gave me were cagey. All I really know about him is that he's a rabbit and they trusted him."

His paw moved and brought up the main file on Lily. He knew what was, or rather wasn't, in it. Under the category of father, there would be the word "unknown" in bold, red letters. But he had not looked at her file as much as he used to, replacing that activity with the bench in front of McCoy Hall. Making it a possibility that someone found out and altered the file. That the big, red word might have been replaced. That when the file opens it would read "The rabbit standing right next to you, who has also been watching you leave your class for several semesters, who saved your life tonight but doesn't have the stones to tell you the truth. That idiot is your father."

The file opened and under the category of father was the word "unknown". While she let out the breath she was holding in anticipation, Jack took in his first breath since she said "real father".

"Sorry, doesn't look like we have that information. I guess they were careful with that detail."

"Could you find out for me?"

Her ears hung low as her cobalt eyes pleaded at him.

"I… I don't..." He saw her ears droop as she hung her head. A small part of him, a very cynical part, thought this might be a hustle. Playing the meek, wounded, prey to garner some pity and sympathy. Ultimately, to get what she wanted. Ultimately, he wanted the same thing. Unlike her, he was not ready.

"It'd take some time, but I'm sure I could find out for you." She brightened with a genuine sparkle up at his words. This wasn't a hustle but he would not have minded if it was.

"After Saiga is taken care of." He added.

"No killing." She was back to being stern but the fury was dialed down.

"I am not taking that off the table, but it will not be the main directive."

She hummed in thought but nodded, "I'll accept that."

"We need proof of what he's done, of who he really is."

Among the various files, Jack spied a bit of inspiration which sent his mind whirling. His ears shot up and he began pulling up blueprints and city maps. What was forming wasn't perfect it but was damn good.

His ears to sagged back down at the realization of the one major flaw to his plan.

"What's wrong? It looked like you had something."

"I do but I'd have to break my word to your mother."

Lily arched a questioning eyebrow at him.

"It would put you in danger."

A familiar foxy grin grew across the rabbit's face. "I'm a Wilde, we don't run from danger. Danger runs from us."

He remembered the first time he heard Nick say that line and smirked, "You certainly are, Miss Lily." 

* * *

"The ZPD has the whole campus on lockdown tonight after reports of a shooting." The young news elk reported. "They have yet to release any official word of any injury or death but there have been unconfirmed reports from mammals on the campus of bodies in the parking lot of McCoy Hall. We at ZNN will keep you updated as the story progress. Now to weather with-"

The screen went silent, as Pyotr "Peter" Saiga set down the thin remote on his desk.

The gaunt antelope let out a disappointed snort. He already knew that both teams failed their mission. If they had succeeded he would have been called by now. Hell, even if they didn't they should have called in. Based on his experience that meant they were the bodies found at the scene. If they were arrested, they would have been allowed to call their lawyer. The news report was just a confirmation of their failure.

He picked up his glass of tea and carried it to his bulbous snout, bits of loose tea swirled in the cup. Regardless of the lack of communication, he held out some hope. Perhaps with their final breath, one of the bikers was able to end the little rabbit's life.

But hope was not the same thing as expectation.

There was a loud buzz from the intercom on the end table. A quick press and the noise stopped.

"Yes?"

"Professor, there's a rabbit down here asking for you. Said she needs your help."

A thin smile crept on the old antelope's face.

"Send her up, quickly."

"Yes, Professor."

Saiga got up from his chair and put away the book he was reading before the news interrupted him. His office doubled as a library, something most apartments lack, but with his profession, both legitimately and not, it was something he needed. Every bit of wall space in the room was shelving, all of which held books. Most were law books, a few biographies, and fewer fiction. The silent TV sat above a faux fireplace facing his desk which rested in the middle of the room. Several books lay on its surface, an intercom station was built into it taking up one of the drawers.

This was his sanctum away from the world. High above Zootopia, he coveted his windowless library, whereas other mammals would bemoan the lack of a view. But he'd argue that he has a better view with his books than any window. He could see so many lives in the numbers in his ledgers and so many fates in the laws and loopholes of the thick tomes.

A click of a door preceded a meek little voice, "Professor?"

"In here, child."

She was shivering, her bookbag clutched to her chest.

"Oh dear heavens, what happened?" Every word dripped with sincerity.

"I was leaving McCoy and…" she hiccupped a sob, "and some mammals jumped me. I heard gun fire and engines, then there was blood… so much."

"Oh Lily." he sighed with award winning tenderness.

"B-b-but I think they were after something of yours."

The larger mammal straightened as he took a step forward. "Something of mine?"

"An odd file. Just some numbers. It was in my pile and I didn't know what it was so I just set it aside. But if they came after me, they could be coming after you, Professor."

The antelope's shoulders lowered with a sigh, "I expected better of you, Miss Wilde. To just lie so blatantly to my face? Shame."

Lily's head snapped to attention, eyes as wide as saucers.

"I know you've been carrying that file with you for a few days now. I wouldn't be surprised if you have it in that bag you're holding so close."

His voice changed to a demeanor she recognized. It was his courtroom voice, it held no weakness but was not domineering. There was a lulling quality about it that usually hid a secret trap waiting to be sprung.

"But I must thank you, for surviving such a harrowing night. If you hadn't I would not have the exquisite joy of killing you myself."

He pulled out a gun from his side with the same casualness of his voice.

"Any last words?"

While he expected her to hold her shoulders tall and defiant, he relished the idea of her breaking down into a cowering husk. So it was a bit of surprise when her shoulders fell and she cocked her head, giving him a judgmental glare.

"You really don't know who I am, do you?"

"To the contrary Miss Wilde. I know exactly who you are. I eluded the police once, I can do it again. Your parents won't be able to touch me" He raised the pistol at her.

"I'm sure you could. But I'm not referring to them. I'm referring to my Godmother, Francesca 'Fru Fru' Big."

His gun wavered.

"You're lying."

"Shoot me and find out." She put her paws on her hips. "You'll see that no matter where you go, she will find you. And the last thing you'll see is the icy waters of Tundra Town rushing up to greet you."

He cocked back the hammer, "I'll take my chances."

His finger slipped between the trigger guard. She still had that damn cocksure face on, it was like he wasn't even pointing a gun at her. He wanted to see her in fear for her life. Even a modicum. An ear twitch, a nervous glance but she gave nothing to him but that damned smug grin.

A snarl slithered its way over his mouth as he straightened his arm, readying for the recoil. His finger began squeezing the trigger.

The quiet of the room was shattered. A loud but muffled ringing echoed through the room. The antelope's confusion doubled as he realized where it was coming from. With the gun still pointed at the rabbit, he moved his free hand to his desk. The volume intensified as he opened the hidden panel on the surface of the desk. A light grunt came out as he pulled the phone out of the compartment. Lily recognized the rotary style phone, the kind used in for inter-burrow communications at Grandma and Grandpa Hopps'.

The ringing died as he picked up the receiver. He stayed silent, waiting for the other end to speak first. The wait was short.

"Put the gun down and let the rabbit talk or I'll shoot you." The voice stated as soon as the receiver reached his ear.

Snorting he narrowed his eyes at the bunny before him. "This phone line is only supposed to call out."

"I have a friend in the telecom industry." The voice said offhandedly rushed, "Now lower your gun."

His arm slackened and moved to his side, but was still pointed dangerously at the rabbit. He let out a light chuckle.

"This is cute." He swiveled the receiver away from his mouth talking to Lily, "I have no idea how you pulled this off, but I have to commend your efforts, as futile as they are. But as you failed to notice, there are no windows here. Your little sniper ruse is up."

"I don't need windows with thermal imaging. I can see you perfectly. It's a shame you're letting your tea cool."

The antelope opened his mouth for another rebuttal but was interrupted.

"And the rounds I'm using were made to pierce tank armor, to say nothing of your thirty-year-old bullet proof walls. Now put the damn gun down."

He set the gun down on the desk, next to the phone.

"No, no. On the ground and kick it over to Miss Wilde."

His lips twitched as the snarl was finally unleashed, showing off his dull flat teeth as menacingly as possible. The gun clattered across the floor from his hoof kick. With a quickness he was not expecting, the rabbit snatched the gun off the floor.

"Now be a good chap and answer any question she has for you."

Her cocksure smirk faded as her mind moved on to what was next, preparing for whatever dark answer he would give.

"Why me?"

"I have guards on every floor. You'll never make it out of this building alive."

"That means you have no reason not to answer my question. Why did you target me?"

"Fine," he growled, "you'll die with your curiosity sated. It's because of your father."

In the empty office in the building across from them, Jack's finger tightened around the trigger.

"I was in the employ of the Kamchatka clan, a bunch of half witted ursas. We were making headway into Zootopia's criminal scene. It was all going according to plan but then your father popped into one of our fronts and started asking a few too many and too specific questions. Instead of making your dear old dad dear old dead, those nitwits closed shop and moved the operation. Wasting time and, more importantly, money we didn't have on a very conspicuous move. Soon enough we had cops knocking on our doors. Seeing that as a sign of weakness the other gangs attacked. As our burgeoning empire collapsed, I grabbed what cash I could and went into hiding. Years of work and planning ruined because your goddamn father came snooping around. And instead of rolling in the lap of luxury, I had to fake a new life. I lost everything. Everything!"

He growled out the words between gritted teeth.

"I was going to ruin his life one death at a time before I permanently wiped that damn smirk off that fox's face. "

Jack's shoulders relaxed. Saiga was not one of his loose ends. Regardless, he kept his finger on the trigger and his aim on the antelope's chest.

"Satisfied, rabbit?"

"Very."

"And you, mystery caller, are you her ticket to safety? Threatening my life if she's harmed on her way out?"

"Something like that." The line went dead.

Saiga hung up the phone and turned back to the still smirking rabbit.

"You still have nothing on me."

She let out a sharp laugh.

"For someone with a vendetta against my family, you really are clueless. Do you even know how they broke their first big case?"

He scoffed at her insult. Anyone who has lived in Zootopia for more than a year has heard the tale of Bellwether's corruption and the drug induced savage mammals.

"They got the ewe to confess, so what?"

"They didn't just get her confession. They recorded it."

His vision went red as she pulled her cellphone from her pocket.

"It's not as stylish as a carrot pen, but it makes up for it with more features."

"You recorded me?" He growled.

"Technically no, but the police on the other end of the call did. As I said, the ZPD will be safely escorting me out of here."

Shaking with anger, he leapt at the smaller mammal. His vision ran red with thoughts of beating the life out of the rabbit with his bare hooves. Deafened by rage he didn't hear his door burst open. Nor did he see the heavily armored TUSK members flood into the room. All he saw was the damn rabbit smirking as a black clad freight train slammed him into the ground.

Both of them were escorted down the building, Lily lacked the free metal restraints Saiga was given. After handing in the procured handgun, she was taken to an awaiting EMT at the back of an ambulance. Jack watched from the darkness as the thin tiger tech gave Lily a quick once over.

"Saiga will have full spread surveillance on him, even in prison." Stated the voice on the other end of Jack's cellphone.

"If he mentions anything about the Wilde family, or even foxes and rabbits, I want the previous four months of his records sent to me immediately."

"What about security? It won't take long for his ex-associates to demand recompense for his theft."

That was true. Once word of Saiga's trial gets around, quite a few shivs will be sharpened just for him.

"None. I made a promise but that just protected him from me. His fate is of his own making."

"I've got to ask, does this mean you're back in the game Jack?"

He looked at the tan rabbit with red tipped ears huddled under the crumpled chrome of an emergency blanket. She was all grown up. Anytime he saw one of her many milestones it was always from afar. A snippet of video sent by Nick. A picture from Judy. Or just scrolling through Furbook. He didn't want to watch her grow like that, and she still had many milestones to go.

"No, I am not."

"But you know what they say, an operative never retires."

That was a saying everyone in the ZIA knew well. No one retires for the ZIA, they die before they can.

"We'll see." he ended the call and limped into the dim light around the ambulance. With all he had done tonight, it was inevitable that his leg would be irritated. He packed enough extra ammunition to deal with Saiga and his goons several times over, but he forgot to bring a cane.

Lily smiled at him and his heart fluttered.

"Is everything good on your end?" She asked.

The tiger gave Jack an annoyed glance.

"Please step back sir, this is police business."

Jack pulled out a small black wallet from his inside pocket and opened it towards the tiger. A ZIA badge and ID sat inside it. The tiger's mouth hung open as his eyes darted between the badge and the rabbit.

"I- I'll just be over…" Not even finishing his sentence, the feline pointed away from them and quickly followed his finger.

"You use that often?" Lily chuckled.

"That was the first time since I retired. And yes, everything is good on my side. Tonight was Saiga's last night as a free mammal."

She seemed satisfied. If she were a bit more seasoned she might have attempted more demands on the behalf of Saiga, or rather justice. Jack was glad she wasn't.

Before the silence expanded further his mouth opened and uttered, "About your father…"

Her ears snapped up as her glowing blue eyes locked onto him.

"I…"

They were alone. She was right in front of him. There would be no better time to talk to her than at this exact moment.

He took a breath to steel his frayed nerves and readied himself for the most daunting task in ages.

"I have been in contact with him."

His stomach fell at his cowardice.

Lily squirmed on the back bumper of the ambulance, "Can I talk with him? Can you tell me who he is?"

He held up a paw to politely silence her.

"This," Jack gestured to the mass of police cruisers and heavily decked out officers, "is not how he wanted to meet you. If you want I can probably answer most of your questions."

A vice wrenched around his heart at the disappointment in her eyes. This was not what he wanted either but it was for the best, as much as he hated it. She would be safer. She would live.

Her initial disappointment had taken a backseat to the flood of questions she had about her father. Her mouth twitched, as all the questions tried to jump out of her at once.

"Was I… Did my mother…" She fumbled through several false starts before gathering up her will with a sigh and plunged into the deep end of her inquiry.

"Am I the product of an affair?"

Jack's head snapped back in shock as the question hit him like a taser.

"No." He tried not to sound hurt. "Why would you think that?"

"There's no logical reason, but…" Her face scrunched, tears beginning to well up. "Sometimes it seems like that could be the only reason neither of my parents will tell me anything about him, or why I've never seen him."

"Your parents wanted a kit and your biological father was someone they both trusted and cared about. There was no infidelity or affair. Your conception was quite clinical."

"If he's so trusted and cared about, how come he's never come around?"

Jack knew this question was coming but did not look forward to answering it. The tinge of anger in her voice did not help.

"His absence was to keep you safe."

"From what?" Her paws shook the crumpled foil looking blanket off her shoulder.

"From mammals who would wish to hurt him in the worst possible way. As long as no one knew he had a child, the safer that child would be."

He pushed out the images of a bloody wedding dress and shattered glass that tried to smash into the forefront of his thoughts. She didn't have a quick follow up to his answer, instead she glared as she processed that answer.

"I guess, idiocy and cowardice must skip a generation then."

Jack floundered at her accusation, barely able to start a cohesive rebuttal before she began to stalk forward with a vengeful fire in her eyes.

"I am going to be an attorney for Zootopia, a job that makes enemies. Powerful enemies. I've heard many war stories from current and former DAs. I know the risks. They may not be running into gunfire every day, but they put their lives on the line for the good of the people of this city. So either my father is an idiot and can't see that I will still be in danger without him around. Or he's a coward, hiding behind a worthless veil of gallantry."

It wasn't until her finger was jabbing into his chest that he realized how close she had gotten to him. The anxious fear of him losing her was seeming more concrete with each of her steps, and he could not tear his vision off the intense flames behind her cobalt eyes.

"So you go and tell that braindead buck there is no damn reason he shouldn't be in my life. Can you do that for me, Jack?"

With a deliberate paw, as if he was handling a priceless antique, he moved her paw from jabbing him. Her fur was soft, especially compared to his. He brought her paw down, expecting her to free herself from his gentle grip but found himself pleased when she didn't let go.

"I can do that, but are you sure? The enemies he has made are not of the same caliber as what the District Attorney's face."

The fire still blazed behind her eyes as a tear broke free and streaked down her cheek. She nodded.

"Okay." His soft voice sealed their pact. He was going to tell her. He had to at this point. There was no going back.

Her paw freed itself from his and wrapped around him as her head came to rest against the crook of his neck.

"Thank you." She tightened her hug as a sob shuddered through her body.

Her red tipped ears caressed the sides of his face. A warmth from his chest began to spread throughout. It was a wonderfully pleasant and calming feeling. He tried to will it down, as it would dissipate after their embrace was over and its absence would be just another wound.

She adjusted her head, moving under his neck and deliberately rubbed the top of her head under his chin as she pulled away. Scent marking was a primitive holdover many species still observed. It was something that most mammals would not enact lightly.

Lily looked into the shocked buck's face and smiled.

"Thanks, Dad."

His jaw dropped, a partially formed syllable fell out but she heard enough to have an idea of what it was going to be.

"Something didn't add up at your apartment. You've been here two years, but the contact for Chief Wilde was Judy H. As in Hopps, her maiden name. Other little bits started to fit together after that, like why an older rabbit was hanging around ZNU at such a late hour."

A part of him felt like he should be mad that his facade was torn down so easily. But he couldn't help the swelling of pride that she had figured it out. It wasn't his intent but by the smile on her face, and the fact she still clung to him like a little kit, she didn't seem upset by his attempted misdirection.

"Jack, are you okay?"

He was okay. In fact he was beyond okay. He smiled at her feeling the tears streaming down his face.

"Oh my." He freed a paw from around his daughter and wiped at his face futilely as the tears ran down his fur.

"Come here." She grabbed his paw and lead him back to the ambulance.

He sat down on the bumper like she had only moments ago, while she hopped into the back of the vehicle. She emerged with several sheets of tissue paper meant for larger mammals and tore off a corner of one for him.

"Good thing Nicholas isn't here, I'd never hear the end of it from him."

"Yeah," she laughed, "he still teases me about crying at the end of _Wrangled_ when I was a kit."

Resting her head against him, her ears flopped on his shoulder. Their silence was comfortable but more questioned buzzed around her head that she needed to get out.

"Jack, what's with all the paintings of two moons?"

A morose shade fell over the buck's face, "You saw those?"

The barriers holding back those memories began to crack. The faint sound of sniper fire and breaking glass echoed in his mind.

"You kind of left the door open, I couldn't help it."

"They weren't moons. They were Skye."

Skye; a name he thought of often, sometimes involuntarily, but hadn't said aloud in years. The first, and for the longest time the only, mammal he ever loved. While some would figuratively say they would kill for their love, Jack literally did. He would have died for her and, ashamedly, wished he could have quite often. He would do the same for Lily.

"The moon is in the sky, but why two of them?"

He couldn't stop the small chuckle from coming out.

"Her name was Skye."

Holding her soft paw in his, the walls in his mind crumbled. But it wasn't the torrent of blood and death he was expecting. He remembered the warmth of her paw in his. How she would pepper him with kisses after debriefings. The ethereal cloud like fluffiness of her tail as it wrapped around his legs. The electric thrill that ran down his spine when her claws grazed his ears just so.

His loss and sorrow had drowned those memories. Squeezing Lily's paw, the resurfaced memories brightened in his mind.

"I'll tell you everything about her," he pulled her into a tight hug, "but not tonight."

They could have stayed holding each other for ages, making up for twenty-some years of missed hugs, but life is never that kind. They heard a deep intake of breath, and Lily froze like her ancestors would have at the sound of a predator's growl.

"LILLIAN BONNIBEL WILDE!"

The young doe cowered in response to the familiar tone of her mother's voice. A few near by officers did as well, suddenly finding their jobs needed to be done farther away from their Chief. She stormed over to her daughter but her anger faded seeing the earthen toned bunny quiver before her.

"Oh honey, are you alright?"

Wrapping her arms around her daughter before patting her down searching for injuries.

"Mom, I'm fine."

"Oh good." The white hot rage flared back into her eyes, "What were you thinking? I told you to stay with Jack and to be safe!"

"I was with Jack."

"No, you were in a highrise apartment with the mammal who sent two hit squads after you!"

"But-" Lily's explanation was halted by her mother's finger pressing against her lips.

"Nope. You are grounded for a year missy!"

"I'm twenty-three."

"I'm your mother, I can ground you at any age."

"I don't live at home."

"Doesn't matter, you're still grounded."

Flinging her hand in the air, Lily gave up the argument as Judy turned her attention to the other rabbit.

"And you…" She growled out. Lily sensed another bout of loud motherly shouting coming but was surprised when the older doe's body shifted into a more relaxed stance.

"Does she know?"

Jack nodded, "She figured it out."

"About time," she muttered before taking in another lung full of air before restarting her tirade, "And you! You promised to keep our daughter out of danger. Yet I'm being informed that the ZIA has commandeered several squads of officers, including a TUSK team, and some recording equipment barely an hour after talking to you!"

Her eyes quivered with a white-hot fury but in a wet blink, the fury drowned in a deluge of tears as she brought both rabbits into a tight hug. Lily wrapped her arm around her mom's sobbing shoulder. Rubbing her mother's back, she felt another paw come from the other side come up and hold hers.

Huddled with the two other rabbits, Jack felt the tears begin streaming down his face again. He didn't care. The only thing that mattered was in his arms and he wasn't going to let go of her.

A flickering flash and click of a shutter took the attention of the rabbit trio.

With a wider than standard sly smirk, Nick Wilde lowered his cellphone, "My three favorite rabbits finally together."

The fox sauntered over and rubbed his daughter's head. A quizzical look came over him as he sniffed the air.

"You chinned her already, Stripes?"

"Actually," Lily began as her face flushed in embarrassment, "It would be more accurate to say that I headed his chin."

Nick shook his head with a chuckle as he stepped over to the buck.

"Must have rained before I got here, huh? You look drenched, Stripes." He gave the buck a knowing smile before patting his back.

"Yeah," he agreed with a smirk. "A real downpour."

Judy took in a shuddering breath and smoothly exhaled before disentangling herself from her daughter and friend.

"I should get back to work. You two made a real mess for me to deal with."

"Sorry, mom."

"If there's anything I can do-"

"You've done enough, Agent Savage." The fury was back in Judy's eyes and the next thing out of her mouth confounded his brain. It sounded like something that would strike the fear of God into the strongest mammal. But the words were the farthest from it.

"I'm making my mother's lasagna Thursday night."

It wasn't an invitation. It wasn't a request. It was a threat. If he didn't show, there wouldn't be a force on Earth that could stop Judy from dragging Jack to the dinner table.

After finding out that Nick left the boy's with the coach, Judy headed towards the small crowd of officers still on the scene.

"Somebody's in trouble." Lily's said in a quiet singsong tone.

"Welcome to the family, Stripes."


End file.
